Eco-warrior Charles’s Highgrove shop is stuffed full of plastic
AS an environmental campaigner, it was no surprise when Prince Charles condemned the ‘nightmare’ of rubbish filling our oceans.
But his commitment was called into question last night after it emerged that his Highgrove shop sells dozens of items made from or wrapped in plastic.
Products made entirely from the material include wreaths and plates.
Others are individually wrapped, including a pet bed, toffee, a silk pocket square and even notebooks.
Julian Kirby, waste campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: ‘The Prince of Wales has been championing the environment for decades and his recent speech highlighted the need for urgent action to tackle the scourge of plastic pollution.
‘Bold government measures are essential for driving urgent change across the whole economy, but we also need companies and individuals to take action too.
‘Prince Charles can further demonstrate his commitment to the environment by encouraging his outlets to ditch unnecessary plastic as soon as possible.
‘Plastic pollution is killing and maiming marine life, and could pose a serious health risk to humans too.’
The comments come days after the Queen cracked down on plastic at royal palaces. Her staff have been told to ditch straws, eat from china plates and drink from glass bottles. The Queen is thought to have taken a personal interest in plastic since working on a documentary about wildlife conservation with Sir David Attenborough. The Daily Mail has also highlighting the scourge of plastic blighting the environment with its Turn The Tide On Plastic campaign.
Prince Charles’s shop in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, sells products inspired by his nearby Highgrove estate, the residence he shares with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Men’s gardening gloves currently on sale in the store are encased in thick plastic bags, while some books – including Long To Reign Over Us, the official 90th birthday album for the Queen – are shrink-wrapped.
Other items that use or are wrapped in plastic include cookie kits, potpourri, picnic bags, cotton stoles, hot water bottles, pot stands and pens.
All profits from the products go to the Prince of Wales’s charitable foundation.
Charles addressed the threat to the world’s coral reefs from pollution, overfishing and climate change last night, condemning the ‘scourge of plastic in the ocean’ at a conference in London. ‘ We must act decisively and quickly to prevent an ecological disaster,’ he added.
The prince also tackled the issue at a meeting of environmentalists and business leaders at the British Academy in London last month, when he warned: ‘The nightmare result of eight million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean every year is set to get worse rather than better. We must not allow this situation to continue.
‘I fervently pray you will all do your utmost to work together in the coming year to make real, substantial progress. It could not be more critical that you succeed.’
At a news conference last year, he said: ‘ Wherever you swim [in the ocean] there are particles of plastic near you, and we are very close to reaching the point when whatever wild-caught fish you eat will contain plastic.’
Left unchecked, plastic in the sea will outweigh fish by 2050, and anyone who eats seafood is now thought to ingest around 11,000 pieces of microplastic a year. Highgrove Enterprises said: ‘ The Prince of Wales has led by example, with the great majority of product lines being plastic free. Highgrove Enterprises has already announced it will be removing all non-recyclable single-use plastics by the end of this year.’